Month: June 2022

Kimonos

A kimono is a T-shaped, straight-lined Japanese robe that falls to the ankle and has full-length sleeves that are commonly very wide at the wrist. The robe is wrapped around the body, always with the left side over the right, and secured with a wide belt, an obi, that ties in the back. In today’s Japan, more Western styles of dress are the norm, but kimonos are still widely worn on special occasions. What personal information can be deduced from the style of a woman’s kimono? Discuss

vanilla

hard sauce – Contains butter and sugar, with brandy, rum, or vanilla. More…

oak – In the flavor of wines, it comes from oak cases and is similar to coconut or vanilla. More…

vanilla – Can mean “having no special features.” More…

white chocolate – A blend of cocoa butter, milk solids and sugar and vanilla, it used in candy bars and baking and coatings; it is not technically chocolate because it contains no chocolate liqueur. More…

Cuyahoga River Catches Fire (1969)

Famously described in a Time magazine article as a river that “oozes rather than flows” and a waterway in which a person “does not drown but decays,” Ohio’s Cuyahoga River used to be so heavily polluted that it actually caught fire—on more than one occasion. The river fire of 1969, which received national media attention, helped spur the environmental movement of the late 1960s and prompted the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency. When else has the river caught fire? Discuss

St. Alban's Day

St. Alban is the first and best known of all the English saints and martyrs. He was a soldier living as a pagan in the town of Verulamium, probably during the 3rd century, when a Christian priest named Amphibalus, pursued by Roman persecutors, begged for refuge in his house. Alban took him in and was soon converted by him and baptized. When he could conceal Amphibalus no longer, Alban changed clothes with him and gave himself up as the priest. Alban was brought before the governor, condemned, and beheaded. A shrine was later erected in Verulamium, and the town was renamed St. Albans. Discuss

George Vancouver (1757)

Vancouver was an English navigator and explorer who sailed on Captain James Cook’s second and third voyages. In 1791, he set out for the northwest coast of America, traveling east. He rounded the Cape of Good Hope, explored the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, and visited Tahiti and the Hawaiian Islands. He then reached the American coast and surveyed it for three years. In the course of his journeys, he circumnavigated the island that now bears his name. What was it originally called? Discuss

Phillips Exeter Academy

Exeter is one of the preeminent boarding schools in the world, along with Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and Eton College in England. Famous for its demanding and rigorous academics, Exeter also boasts one of the largest endowments of any secondary school in the US. Graduates typically matriculate to elite colleges, a tradition that has solidified the school’s long-standing relationships with Ivy League and other prestigious universities. Who are some of the academy’s famous alumni? Discuss